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When the American billionaire of Italian origin, James Pallotta, purchased AS Roma in 2014, he tried to say the right thing: how he had been falling in love with the club he had part-owned and stressing his desire to do well. And yet, for all his visible ambition, he very skillfully avoided making any concrete promises about the vision of AS Roma. Perhaps he had seen other rich American businessmen be attracted by the European game only to be shunned when it turned out that their pockets weren’t as deep as the fans had hoped. Those experiences highlighted the need to rein in expectations so that he could better deliver his vision.